Friday 22 April 2011

The Cruelest Month



sunny, warm, perfect spring day temps plus 8

Snowed to white-out at times yesterday. Doug arrived about 10pm. We sat by the fire and talked almost to midnight. Snow still falling outside. I took the photo yesterday at about five thirty. You can just see two geese in the foreground. More snow hit a few minutes later.

Doug - from Toronto - was shocked. Though, as we've already established, this is April, and April is The Cruelest Month. (Do you hear the organ music?) I think our lives should have soundtracks, so that instead of living in near perpetual anticipation of something bad happening, we'd be warned. By the organ music.

But this does bring me to the next bit of fun news. St. Martin's Press has decided to re-issue all the books, with snazzy new covers. I reeeeeally love the new design. In many ways more in keeping with the actual tone of the books, which are comforting and comfortable on one level, but something not so comforting is happening beneath. They're about duality. Appearances versus reality.

And that's why the new cover for The Cruelest Month - set at an Easter celebration in Three Pines - is perfect. As you can see above (I grabbed the image off Amazon.com) it show cheery painted eggs, and the very subtle crack in one...to reveal something rotten. How perfect. In one picture it has summed up the themes of the series. That beauty and joy exist, but so does cruelty. As in the cover, joy outnumbers the rancid elements. But the rotten is still there. And often hidden. Indeed, in my books, and my experience, always hidden. Behind a cheerful and benign exterior.

And - the exterior is also real. We really are cheerful. The killer is genuinely good. And genuinely rotten.

The book with the new cover just went on sale - and I wanted you to see it. My wonderful editor in New York, Hope Dellon, posted it on my facebook page yesterday.

Happy Easter. Happy Passover. Or simply, happy Friday. By noon here the snow had disappeared and the geese had left, but we had two ducks on the pond.

7 comments:

Melody said...

Louise, I love the cover! I can't wait to get my hands on it and read it. I have loved all your books.

Diane said...

The cover is awesome - can't wait to see the rest of them. The theme of light and darkness (to my eye) weaves expertly through all your work and reflects the human experiences - ducks and dogs too I'm sure.

Barbara said...

Terrific news about the reissue with new covers! We're about to drown in excess rain this April but at least we don't have to shovel it. Lots of geese here and spring birds looking bewildered. The starlings we call drunken sailors staggering around the yard finding goodies to eat.

lil Gluckstern said...

Love the cover, I hope Spring shows up soon. I'm still recovering from the poutine-just looking at it makes my cholesterol go up. Looks good though. Happy holidays!

Colombine said...

Comme c'est joli! Certaine que ça représente bien l'idée du livre. Que c'est bon la nouveauté... c'est rafraîchissant. Ça sent le printemps à plein nez malgré... ce vent qui ne nous laisse pas beaucoup de répit.

Bravo Louise, je suis fière de vous et pour vous!

Louise Penny Author said...

I'm SO glad you all agree! A cover is so important, and this one is terrific. Thanks for writing!

Natalie~Coffee and a Book Chick said...

Yay, looking forward to picking this one up! Bury Your Dead was my 1st reading of your work and now I need to catch up on everything!